Manchester Public Schools
Budget Workshop

January 20, 2005

7:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M.
Lincoln Center
Manchester, CT 06040

A. OPENING

PRESENT: Edwards, O'Neill, Rizzo, Robinson, Thresher

ABSENT: Golas, Hackett, Huyler, Lok

ALSO
PRESENT: Superintendent of Schools Ouellette, Director of Human Resources Attorney Libby, Director of Student Support Services Tait, Business Manager Brooks

ABSENT: None

Mr. Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

Mr. Robinson led in the Pledge of Allegiance.

B. Opening Remarks

Mr. Robinson, Board Chair and co-chair of Personnel & Finance, mentioned that several members of the Board were not able to attend the meeting due to illness, family emergencies or commitments. He stated that it is a meeting of the Board of Education's committee for Personnel and Finance, and is fairly an informal session.

Mr. Rizzo, co-chair of Personnel & Finance, stated that although the meeting is held in a formal setting, he is hoping that the meeting is informal and that the Board would be able to have a dialog about the proposed budget.

C. Superintendent's Budget Presentation

Ms. Ouellette, Superintendent of Schools, gave the following budget address to the Board of Education.

Good evening, as the new Superintendent of Schools, I would like to welcome the public and personally present to you and the Board of Education my Superintendent's Budget Message, for the 2005-2006 school year.

Our schools face a number of broad social challenges that are reshaping our global society and the way American children learn. The changing demographics, growing diversity and shifts in population all affect Manchester's children and create real challenges for teaching and learning.

Everyday, our Manchester Public Schools welcome students - regardless of their language, family circumstances, income, religious belief, nationality, citizenship, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, race or ethnic origin. The inclusive nature of our student body makes our work a special challenge but not an impossible one. This budget is an honest one - built to educate all of Manchester's students.

The Manchester Public Schools mission guides the district improvement agenda, which outlines the district's goals and objectives for the year. But all too often, poverty, language background, and ethnicity have predicted who will succeed and who will fail.

Research tells us that the family unit environment affects student success in school. Research also tells us that schools can have a greater impact on student achievement when they invest in small class size and quality teaching. This budget has been built to maintain the effective class sizes at the elementary and middle school levels that the Manchester Board of Education has committed to over the last half decade. The budget also includes adequate funding for appropriately sized high school classes. This budget in future years will reinsill integrity in our course offerings at Manchester High School. Because no budget can withstand the number of staff needed at Manchester High School, the district is reorganizing staff in other areas.

Manchester's 15 school buildings nest within a community, surrounded by public facilities that are new and adequately spacious structures or renovated historic structures. Manchester's school facilities are outdated and provide inadequate space for educating our children. Recent Connecticut case law has placed an urgent imperative upon our district to revitalize our buildings. This budget and future budgets will contain funding that will reinvigorate our physical plants and hire human support needed to allow all our students to attend school, whether the student can walk or must attend in a wheelchair.

No Child Left Behind challenges all schools in America to ensure at least proficient performance by all students. Manchester schools have risen to that challenge. Our improvement efforts are designed specifically to overcome barriers and to give every student an opportunity for success. We see steady gains in achievement across most populations at all levels. We attribute this success to our team effort to establish clear measurable goals and to provide feedback through multiple measures to inform teachers and families to improve teaching and learning. The Manchester community expects the best from us - and we expect to deliver exactly that. Our work is never complete because we are accountable for continuous improvement. This budget has been built to focus resources where they matter most, continuing the support systems that we have found to be effective in educating our students: Literacy and numeracy resources at the elementary level; efficacy targeting and specialist support at the middle and high school level.

Educating for our children's future must focus on creating learning for children that is individualized and connected to personal interests and inclusive of the broader social context of the system. There must be an interconnectedness with each and thus, the movement of one program can affect all the others. The future requires us to turn the current teaching and learning process inside out and to structure learning so that students will use complex skills in practical situations that challenge their thinking while connecting them to reality. Preparing teachers to develop all students' skills and challenge all students to engage in complex thinking is a continuous process. This budget has been built to infuse new life in the district's professional development program, strengthening job-embedded training. With the backdrop of No Child Left Behind and least restrictive environment, no district can afford to minimize the importance of professional development.

If we hope to meet our seemingly unreachable goals, districts and schools must define priorities for student performance, make choices about how to organize to meet them, gain public support, and then move the dollars and people to match those commitments as outlined in the Manchester Public Schools Strategic Plan.

The budget was developed to meet instructional goals with emphasis on classroom instruction and support. The budget includes funding for certified staff positions, additional costs for special education services and appropriate funding for health insurance, utilities and transportation.

As the new Superintendent of Schools, it is my intent to highlight, continue to fund programs and board of education district initiatives that measure and support our level of success for all students, define standards and targets for instruction, create accountability systems at all levels and functions, support our teachers, and restructure programs that have not proved to be effective.

School boards and school district administrators are constantly involved in a decision-making process aimed at allocating scarce financial resources. New schools are needed, more students with special needs must be served, and the cost of employee benefit increases with the dollars available to pay for these after increases at a rate, sometimes not ever keeping up with inflation.

Building a trust with the town officials, community and taxpayers of Manchester is imperative and by providing financial and education information that can help make decisions for our school children is critical and will bring to light some of the toughest economics times for all of us.

We need to provide accurate, varied financial data and explain the rationale behind these specific decisions.

And hopefully, we can add some comfort, and yet instill pride for the sacrifices we make on behalf of the children of Manchester.

The parents within the Manchester community have entrusted us with educating their children, not at a mere maintenance level, but at a level that exhibits progress, promise and promotes, a future, and golden opportunities for their most prized possessions.

It is my hope with tonight's presentation that a message of hope, trust and a feeling of possibilities for success in education will be clearly conveyed. This Manchester Board of Education has a large job. I commend them for standing firm in their beliefs and values. I believe this budget will bring great promise and possibilities for all our children in Manchester.

With your support, our schools can revitalize their talents and establish new avenues in reaching all students who have chosen to walk down a very influential path in their life; to educate their minds in the Manchester Public Schools.

It is with great respect that I present to you the Manchester Public Schools Superintendent's recommended budget for the 2005-2006 school year.

Ms. Ouellette reviewed the educational priorities for a clear vision of student achievement that every student must meet. She looked at the previous budget before constructing the new budget, dismantling it to see where resources could be reorganized or reallocated. During this process, the Manchester Public Schools Mission and Strategic Plan were kept in mind. She stated it is important to reinforce the policies that the Board of Education put into place, such as the homework policy, grading practices, and summer school. It is also important to remember that a constructive dialog continues about teaching and learning between the community and schools. The district needs to be accountable for student achievement. This will include complete district assessments and work models to complement state testing. All learners in all environments must be supported, whether they are identified in any subgroup, and must be supported programmatically and instructionally within the classes. Communication must be clear with parents regarding student skill development within the classrooms, and education must be personalized.

There needs to be equal access of resources to the students. The district has to continue to update and implement facility code projects, which has been an ongoing process. Professional development and staff evaluation must be supported to improve teaching and learning. Resources need to be equitably allocated based on student and school need. This is a priority for Manchester Public Schools. Additionally, the district needs to support hiring of a diverse teaching staff to provide a quality education and meet the needs of all the students. The budget will return special education students to home schools through facility upgrades, provide adequate personnel and professional development for inclusion practices. The facility code upgrades will be augmented through the operating budget and Capital Improvement funding. This budget also reinstitutes the K-12 Equity Supervisor position to provide diversity within all classrooms.

This proposal budget also supports student achievement through class size at all levels, professional development, literacy and mathematics staff and resources, proficiency target work with clear measurable goals, curriculum specialist support, and improved assessments and reporting to the community, staff and parents.

With the 2005-2006 budget, there has to be a level of maintenance. In the maintenance portion of this budget, the district will still need to maintain the practices that the Board of Education has upheld and strive to keep in place for many years. This includes the literacy and mathematics staff and programs, a comparable level of services between schools, the support and funding for Alternative Education programs, summer programming to improve student achievement, class size goals, funding for inter-district magnet schools, policy 3510 funding and support for the security systems.

Ms. Ouellette stated that the average per pupil expenditure for the State is $10,151, and Manchester is very comparable at $10,003. She reviewed the Education Cost Sharing Grant showing the trends. She noted that the State contribution has flattened out and has decreased in supporting the town's education. This shows the impact on the Town in order to property educate the students.

She feels that it is important to review last year's budget, as she feels it will truly impact the direction that is needed in the upcoming budget year. She reviewed the percent increases of the last budget including benefits, professional services, purchased services and dues and fees. The entire budget last year reflected a total 3.07% increase. She stated the district experienced significant difficulties in educating the students this year because of shortfalls in the benefits category of $1.6M, special education tuition of $510,000, and utilities costs of $70,000. This has forced the district to implement an early budget freeze for the schools that has been in place since September. This definitely impacts resources that are badly needed by the students.

She reviewed the fixed cost increases for the 2005-2006 budget. She stated that in order for the district just to maintain the current position, the following categories needed to be highlighted and brought to the Board's attention: special education tuition, $2.3M; salaries, $1.4M; health insurance, $979,137; transportation, $503,986; utilities, $297,743; and MUNIS software, $119,697. She commented that these are all mandates that need to be addressed in the upcoming budget. This fixed cost equals approximately $5.5M or a 7.03% increase just to maintain services.

In order to move forward, a decision needs to be made. She stated that the district needs to be more progressive, more competitive and provide more opportunities for the students to be able to move forward. It is important to take into consideration past practices as well as look in a new direction. She stressed that it is important to stay competitive. She highlighted certain services that need to be in place in order to meet these expectations. Professional services will provide professional development that is needed in the upcoming year. Purchased services include tuition costs, transportation and school focus, which is very instrumental and really puts a strain on the budget. Equipment and capital improvement within the buildings and well as technology needs to be addressed in the upcoming year in order to move forward. With this in mind, she stated she is recommending a 9.33% increase for the upcoming year. She stated the budget increase would be $7,374.710. She feels this is meeting the challenging and taking full measure of ourselves and our buildings. She noted that this is an extremely difficult time for the community, taxpayers, teachers and students. She feels that everyone needs to move forward and that students need to stay competitive and stay current.

D. Questions and Answers

Mr. Robinson thanked Ms. Ouellette for her presentation and opened the floor to Board members for questions and comments.

Mrs. O'Neill noticed in the budget book the revised 2004-2005 budget and the projected 2004-2005 budget. She questioned the special education line item that shows a big increase. She asked if this was based on a projection of this year.

Ms. Ouellette stated that was corrected, based on the current enrollment and costs.

Mr. Rizzo asked what object codes are included in Professional Development.

Ms. Brooks stated that 5320 is professional development, 5322 workshops and in-service, and substitutes that are used for professional development while teachers are not in class.

Mr. Rizzo asked how much of the $518,000 for substitutes would be used for professional development.

Ms. Brooks stated that there is $75,000 budgeted for substitutes for professional development.

Mr. Rizzo reiterated that there is an unspoken commitment to fund one percent of the budget for professional development. He believes the budgeted amount reflects 1/100 of a percent, pointing out the Board is quite a bit below what they would like to be at in terms of providing professional development for the staff. He also commented that class size was a factor in determining staffing. He asked where class sizes are likely to be increased, decreased or otherwise changed.

Attorney Libby stated there are very respectable class sizes currently at the elementary level. The middle school, for the most part, is very reasonable also. At the high school, the class sizes have increased over the past three years significantly, where many classes have 28, 30 or 31 students in them. They are trying to alleviate the pressures on the high school to bring the class sizes down. It won't be able to be accomplished all in one year, but they are taking recommendations from the principal in terms of where the most difficult areas are. They are looking to add a number of teachers to try to alleviate the situation, while trying to maintain the reasonable class sizes at the elementary level.

Mr. Rizzo stated that the Board is used to getting information at this time on FTEs and how they are increasing or decreasing. He asked if there was an idea of where the administration is proposing to increase.

Ms. Ouellette stated that this would be broken down more and presented in the next budget workshop.

Ms. Brooks stated the certified staff positions would include an increase of 15.2 positions. Non-certified positions would increase by 2.6.

Mr. Rizzo asked if the certified positions were all at the high school.

Ms. Brooks stated that most of them are.

Attorney Libby added that they would at least look to put in the budget some increase in the music program at the elementary through high school level. She confirmed that most of the increases would be at the high school level and some staffing at the middle school level to focus on AYP issues and CMT improvement.

Ms. Tait added that there are also a couple of special education positions at the elementary level as children are spread out among the buildings.

Mr. Rizzo stated this would be important information at one of the upcoming budget workshops. He commented that he was glad to see that there is additional money for school focus, which is an area of the budget that has been neglected in the past few budgets. He believes these programs are important for the elementary schools. In future workshops, he feels it would be important to be prepared to explain some of the large percentage increases, particularly the ones in four digits. He thanked both Ms. Ouellette and Ms. Brooks, noting that this has been a horrendous time of dismantling the budget and putting together a new budget. He feels they have done a great job.

Mr. Robinson agreed that the proposed budget is quite an achievement. He noted that most people would focus on the bottom line percentage increase, which will be reviewed over the upcoming weeks. He stated the superintendent's message is clear in that what she has provided is what the school district needs to maintain and move forward. To put it into perspective, he noted the comparison between the State and town per pupil expenditure.

Ms. Ouellette stated that Manchester is respectable or in the middle of the ERG with this statistic based on the most recent data.

Mr. Edwards thanked Ms. Ouellette for the proposal and noted the work in formatting changes and budget structuring. He stated that he is not surprised by the percentage and total increase in the budget. He believes that there wasn't a lot to trade off in this budget, as the budget has been squeezed tight over the last few years. He believes there weren't a lot of places to look within the budget to reallocated resources or reduce expenditures. He stated it would be helpful in a future workshop to know where the superintendent went to look for this, and knowing what was done to try and find savings. He noted the different approach in stating what is needed to maintain and what is needed to improve, and he commended the superintendent for this. He feels this is a much better starting point than with the previous budget. In past budget, many long-standing programs were eliminated. He would like to know if any of these programs were coming back, or if new programs would be introduced, noting a large increase in program improvements.

Ms. Ouellette stated that this would be presented at the upcoming workshops, prepared by Mrs. Gejda.

Mrs. O'Neill noted the benefits of Blue Cross/Major Medical went up pretty substantially, as asked why and if this is the number received from the Town.

Mr. Ouellette confirmed that this was the number received from the Town and noted that they have been working closely with the Town on these numbers.

Ms. Brooks stated that number was arrived at by taking everyone who was currently enrolled in health insurance and multiplying it by a rate from the company, verified by the Town.

Mrs. O'Neill asked if anything was being done to reduce the cost of Special Transportation. She asked if there is anything that can be done.

Ms. Tait stated this was for moving the students from around town to out of district placements. There were also additional children being transported in wheelchairs and those with additional care. They try to decrease it as much as is possible.

Mrs. O'Neill asked if this was the same as the tuition.

Ms. Tait stated that some of this there is no control over. With the children that are out-placed, they try very hard to bring back into the district.

Mrs. O'Neill reiterated that the district is doing everything possible to keep the numbers down, and the projected numbers are based on this year's numbers.

Mr. Rizzo asked if there were areas that the superintendent would like the Board to take particular note of in terms of researching and asking questions.

Ms. Ouellette realizes that it is a lot to digest in a short amount of time. She stated she would like the Board to take the time to review the budget. They added a line that they have been working with the Town on. After reviewing the budget, she suggests the Board emails questions and concerns to her that she can specifically address at the upcoming workshops. Professional Development will certainly be an issue, as well as possible World Language in the program improvement areas. These details will be outlined in the upcoming sessions.

Mr. Rizzo noted that not all of the requests from building administrators are included in the proposed budget. He asked if there could be a list of those items that did not get included in the budget.

Ms. Ouellette stated that she could provide this, but assured the Board, that for the most part, a lot of administrative requests were granted.

Mr. Rizzo stated that many building administrators might feel that it doesn't matter what they request based on the previous budgets. It concerns him that the Board never really knows what the initial requests are from the building level staff.

Ms. Ouellette stated there was a working workshop with administrators in which they personally presented their budgets, outlined their needs for her and Ms. Brooks. There were some concerns conveyed about past budget practices. A lot of work in a principal's workshop was done to prioritize needs.

Mr. Thresher assumes the budget does include some additional expenses to the Board for the change of Bennet students attending Illing.

Ms. Ouellette stated the transportation for the students to go from Bennet to Illing would be provided from Title I grants. However, the per pupil allotment will be addressed as students enroll in Illing in the upcoming year. This will be addressed as needed, as it continues to fluctuate. This will be presented at a future Board of Education meeting.

Mrs. O'Neill asked about special education excess cost reimbursement and special education tuition, and if it is included in the proposed budget.

Ms. Brooks stated that it is built into the budget, and it has already been reduced.

Mrs. O'Neill asked for the next budget workshop a list of capital improvement items, as well as the expected reimbursement from the State for some of the projects.

Mrs. Ouellette stated she would present them, and it would also be addressed at the next Board of Education meeting.

Mr. Rizzo asked if there are other items in the budget that have changed from past budgets that the Board should be aware of.

Ms. Ouellette stated there were no changes, other than the design of the budget. She commented that they have been working closely with the General Manager to prepare a capital improvement plan that really reflects the Town's Capital Improvement Plan. They had to put that together in the last five weeks, along with the budget. Because of the time element, they were only able to get the projected costs in this year's budget, but they are continuing to have communication with the General Manager and his staff to be able to present a budget very similar to the Town for next year, which is their goal.

Mr. Rizzo asked if the proposed budget differs significantly from the way the Town's budget is prepared and presented.

Ms. Ouellette stated this presentation would be based more on educational needs and what the Superintendent sees as the philosophy of where the district needs to be based on the mission and vision.

Mr. Robinson stated the next workshop is set for Tuesday, January 25, 7:00 p.m. at Lincoln Center, with a snow date of February 2, 2005, same time and place.

Mr. Robinson adjourned the meeting at 8:04 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Margaret Hackett, Secretary
Manchester Board of Education